Kalamazoo mom conquers methamphetamine addiction to get son back

Mark Bugnaski | Kalamazoo GazetteSharon Phillips, 31, swings in the back yard on her grandparent's home in Portage with her 5-year-old son Ely. Phillips is a recovering meth addict, and custody of her son was returned to her August 28. The new drug court, know as the Family Dependency Court, in Kalamazoo County requires the parents with drug addiction to be tested regularly and meet with the judge every week before children are returned. Phillips has been drug-free for 170 days.

PORTAGE -- Sharon Phillips felt energized even though she hadn't slept in days and her appetite was gone.

She manically cleaned her home, from top to bottom, until there wasn't a speck of dirt left. The methamphetamine made her feel like she finally had enough hours in the day, all the time in the world.

"I just loved the way it made me feel," she said.

Phillips, who first tried meth at age 13, spent years as an addict in Kalamazoo until the state took away her four children last year.

But her story isn't just about addiction or a broken family.

It's also the story of a mother's love for her children and her motivation to get clean. This year, Phillips joined the Family Dependency Treatment Court, a new program through the Kalamazoo County Circuit Court that helps parents fight their addictions in order to regain custody of their children.

"We're all parents who love our kids," said Phillips, 31. "We're ... trying to do the next right thing."

Mark Bugnaski | Kalamazoo GazetteSharon Phillips, 31, sits in the back yard on her grandparent's home in Portage with her 5-year-old son Ely. Phillips is a recovering meth addict, and custody of her son was returned to her August 28. The new drug court, know as the Family Dependency Court, in Kalamazoo County requires the parents with drug addiction to be tested regularly and meet with the judge every week before children are returned. Phillips has been drug-free for 170 days. In the background, left is Phillips' 8-year-old daughter Lilly, and Kali, 10, middle, that she must still file for custody to have them returned.

All the participants are recovering meth addicts, said Jennifer Mayberry, the program's case manager.

Some parents had their children taken away after the authorities raided their homes for drugs. Others were arrested for operating meth labs or had dated people who cooked meth in their homes.

It is part of a trend as judges noticed a rise in meth cases this year, Circuit Court Administrator Sue Darling said.

In 2008, there were 59 charges filed in the county for maintaining a meth lab, according to court records.

As of July, the court already had 80 charges filed, and officials projected that could jump to 137 charges by the end of the year.

Possession of meth/ectasy charges also have increased by nearly 16 percent during the past year.

Spiral down

Even though Phillips was a single mother, often struggling to pay the bills, she made sure holidays and birthdays were special for her children -- Jacob, 12; Kali, 10; Lilly, 8; and Ely, 5.

"Sharon would always have gifts even though they didn't have much," said her best friend, Nina Cates. "She made sure they knew it was a special day."

Phillips painted her daughters' fingernails and let the girls play with her long brown hair, sticking flowers in it.

During the summer, they collected tadpoles and went to Michigan's Adventure amusement park.

"We were always a real close-knit family," Phillips said. "It was just me and the kids. We were everything to each other."

Phillips was careful to hide the meth use from her children, never manufacturing meth in their home or using it in front of them, she said.

But in 2005, Phillips lost her factory job for being late to work too often. Drugs had played a factor, she said.

Money became tight.

Phillips went from being an occasional meth user to getting high every day after her longtime boyfriend left her in early 2008.

She sent her children to live with her parents in Kalamazoo because too many shady characters would come into her home.

Then in September 2008, the state intervened and gave Phillips' parents temporary custody of her son, Ely. Her other three children were required to live with their biological fathers in northern Michigan and Indiana.

Meanwhile, Phillips drifted in and out of jail for trespassing, driving under the influence of alcohol and drug-related charges.

"Everybody thought she was going to fail. They thought the drug was more important," said Cates, who lives in Kalamazoo. "But I know Sharon. Her kids are her life."

Return home

On a recent day, Ely sat on his grandmother's lap on a wooden bench inside the Gull Road courtroom.

Ely, too young to pay attention, ignored his mother as she sat in front of Kalamazoo County Circuit Judge Stephen D. Gorsalitz. The youngster picked at his faded wash-on tattoo on his wrist as the judge said Ely's name.